Southern California -- this just in

5 LAPD officers probed in mother's death; Beck vows answers

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck vowed to throughly investigate the death of a mother during a confrontation with LAPD officers.

"I take all
in-custody death investigations very seriously," Beck
said in a statement late Thursday. "I am confident we will get to the
truth no matter where that leads us."

At least five Los Angeles police officers are under investigation in
the death of a woman who stopped breathing during a struggle that
included an officer stomping on her genital area and the use of
additional force by others to take her into custody, police officials
confirmed Thursday.

The altercation in front of her South Los Angeles apartment was captured by a patrol car's video camera.

When
asked by The Times about the incident, LAPD Cmdr. Bob Green confirmed
that one officer, while trying to get Alesia Thomas into the back of a
patrol car, threatened to kick Thomas in the genitals if she did not
comply, and then followed through on her threat.

After officers forced Thomas
into the back seat of the police car, she is seen on the video breathing
shallowly; she eventually stopped breathing.

In his statement, Beck said that before he passed judgment on the officers, he wanted to find out whether Thomas had been under the
influence of any drugs or suffered from a medical condition that could
have caused her death.

The
Thomas case occurred in the early-morning hours of July 22 after she
left her 3-year-old and 12-year-old children at the LAPD's Southeast station, according to a department account released the following
day. Green, who oversees the Southeast station, confirmed that
Thomas tried to surrender custody of the children to police because she
was a drug addict and felt she could not care for them.

Officers
went in search of Thomas, finding her at her home in the 9000 block of
South Broadway. After questioning her briefly, the officers attempted to
arrest her on suspicion of child endangerment, the department's account
said.

Thomas "began actively resisting arrest" and one of the
officers took her to the ground by sweeping her legs from beneath her,
the LAPD's official account said. Two others handcuffed Thomas' hands
behind her back and attempted to lead her to a patrol car while a
supervising sergeant observed, according to the department's version.

Two
more officers were summoned as Thomas continued to struggle. Green
confirmed that Thomas was a large woman. A "hobble restraint device" —
an adjustable strap — was tightened around Thomas' ankles to give the
officers more control and she was eventually placed in the back of the
patrol car, the LAPD account said.

The official account, however, made no mention of what Green confirmed was a female officer's questionable treatment of Thomas.

The
department's account said officers immediately notified paramedics. It
is unclear whether the officers attempted to resuscitate her and how
much time passed before paramedics arrived. Thomas died shortly after
being transported to a hospital.

A neighbor who witnessed part of
the incident told The Times he did not see officers do anything wrong
and described Thomas as the aggressor.

Gerald McCrary Sr., 55,
said he was awakened by the commotion and saw police wrestling with
Thomas, who managed to break free from plastic handcuffs. The officers
secured her with metal handcuffs and tried to calm her as she sat
against a wall, McCrary said.

"They were talking to her, asking
her to calm down, that everything will be all right," he recalled. They
brought Thomas some water to drink.

Two
officers escorted her down the stairs in her apartment complex, one on
each arm. McCrary eventually followed and said he saw Thomas in a patrol
car "shaking her head against the back seat." Sometime later, he saw
her sprawled out on the sidewalk without a blouse. Paramedics had just
arrived.

McCrary said police interviewed him on two separate occasions about the incident but never mentioned that Thomas was dead.

Charmaine
Hood, McCrary's live-in caregiver, also witnessed Thomas' encounter
with police. She said officers were trying to help Thomas.

"I didn't see them try to harm her in any shape or fashion," Hood said. "I seen them protect her from hurting herself."